Components of New Zealand’s North Island are actually underneath a state of emergency, with residents in low-lying Coromandel, which has already seen landslips and closed roads, instructed to depart instantly.

The BBC’s Hywel Griffith says the Bay of Lots, which suffered flooding final week brought on by the tail finish of Cyclone Debbie, is anticipating 300mm (11in) of rain to fall, which implies some homes could also be flooded once more.

The storm is predicted to carry gales of as much as 150km/h (93 mph).

Faculties and companies throughout the island have been shut early whereas residents in Auckland, which has seen flooding, have been stocking up on emergency provides.

The cyclone fashioned round Vanuatu on Sunday and moved in direction of New Caledonia, bringing heavy rain and winds and inflicting cuts to energy and water provides, reported Newshub.

New Zealand climate officers say that Cyclone Cook dinner would be the worst to hit the nation since 1968.

They’ve additionally warned that it’s a “actually tightly packed cyclone” that may carry a “phenomenal” quantity of rain and wind, reported The New Zealand Herald, in comparison with Cyclone Debbie which was extra unfold out.

Cyclone Debbie hit Australia on the finish of March, earlier than its remnants drifted in direction of New Zealand, bringing massive quantities of rain that precipitated extreme flooding.

It soaked New Zealand cities like Wellington and Auckland – which noticed its wettest March on document – and prompted the complete city of Edgecumbe to be evacuated.

Authorities are actually frightened about how Cyclone Cook dinner will impression land that’s already saturated from heavy rains.